Snapchat is most commonly used by young people

Snapchat is a shrinking platform—it lost 3 million users this year—but it's still going strong with 188 million daily active users. And with some needed momentum, there's a good chance that the platform will grow again in the coming months.

Shrinking or not though, Snapchat's active user count is meaningless if your company isn't targeting its biggest demographic: young people.

The platform is overwhelmingly dominated by young people. In fact, 78% of Americans aged 18-24 use Snapchat, and people 18-24 account for 45% of the total Snapchat user-base. Further, 71% of the network's entire user-base is under 31 years old.

Additionally, roughly 70% of Snapchat users are female, so many of the advertisers on the network are female-focused.

How do brands actually post to Snapchat?

Unless brands choose to buy ads, there is only one way to post to Snapchat: Stories.

Stories are simple: you start with a vertical image or photo, and then add filters, text, stickers, or other visual content in the editor. Your Story can contain whatever you like, and can showcase things like new products or sales.

After making a new Story, your audience can view it for 24-hours in the Stories tab of their Snapchat app. After that, your Story will disappear forever, so save it if you want to repost in the future.

There's no way to make a permanent post on Snapchat just yet, and the app has shown no signs of adding the feature.

It's ad platform is incredibly powerful

Instagram makes up for its lack of posting features with an abundance of ad features.

We're not lying when we say the app has some of the most unique and innovative ad features of all social networks.

With Snapchat, there are a few different types of Snapchat ads you should know about:

Snapchat ads

Sponsored filters

Sponsored geo-filters

Sponsored ads are pretty basic. In short, these are video ads that play when Snapchat users are flipping through their friends Snapchat stories. An ad is displayed every few Stories, but users can skip them if they'd like, so make sure your ad is interesting!

The innovation comes in with sponsored filters and on-demand geofilters, though.

In short, sponsored filters are branded filters that can be overlayed on any Snapchat user's Snaps. This means that not only does the user making a snap see your ad, but also the people that recieve their snaps.

You can even make interactive sponsored filters, making it easier than ever to make your ads memorable. Some brands that have taken advantage of this include Budweiser, Beats, and Taco Bell—all brands that cater to younger audiences.

Bottom line

Armed with the information given to you in this article, make your own decision on whether or not marketing on Snapchat is worth it. And remember: there's nothing wrong with A/B testing on the network for a limited amount of time.

Now we want to hear from you. Does your brand use Snapchat to promote its products? Let us know in the comments!